California Gov. Jerry Brown, seated, borrows a pen from California Assembly member Jose Solorio, left, as he signs a bill aimed at worker’s compensation costs at a printing company in San Diego. Looking on from right are California Assembly Speaker John Perez, Art Polaski of the California Labor Federation, and California Assembly member Marty Block. Brown signed the bill intended to reduce workers’ compensation costs for California businesses while increasing benefits to injured workers. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

ANAHEIM, J. Lowe: When will the governor and now the California State Trustees do their jobs and make real decisions to reduce spending and costs? Never. Rather they provide lip service, pass bills that do nothing to curtail unfunded liabilities, employ fear tactics and support spiraling raises to all educators.

Educators tell us it’s all about the children while receiving generous raises and pension packages. Legislators tell us it is all about the children as they pass “mini Dream Acts” to give away more taxpayer money to non citizens and granting tuition breaks to out-of-state residents.

Those of us who are self-employed or employed by non-local, county or state employers are done footing the bill for non-working or union employees. I fear, though, that the latter is a greater percentage of the voting population and will continue to pass increases that benefit them in raises or freebies.

Why should I work hard to provide for my family when the state and federal governments just take more? There is no reason. So I will work less, make less, and we will all eventually end up broke. Maybe then someone will have the moral courage to make a spending cut.

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LAKE FOREST, Walt Nobrega: Propositions 30 and 38 are just another bait-and-switch scam from Sacramento, Gov. Jerry Brown and Molly Munger. The taxes would be collected and used for the schools or pension shortages. The Legislature would then reduce the amount of money budgeted to the educational system at the same level of taxes taken in. The result is that schools will get the same as they have always gotten. They did it before, and they will do it again if we don’t put a stop to these scams.

Also, just because you don’t make $250,000, don’t think you get away free. The sales tax increase is where the state will make the real money. A $20 purchase in taxable items will cost $1.50. How much money will we throw down the Sacramento sewer before we go broke?

Vote No on 30 and 38.

American terrorists

SEAL BEACH, Robert L. Parks: We Americans have spent years mourning those who died on 9/11 at the hands of terrorists, yet we ignore homegrown terrorists and allow them to commit multiple acts and take little action to stop the slaughter.

A 17-year-old Newport Beach girl is left severely injured, thousands of others are killed annually by drunken drivers, yet the driver will only serve between none to eight years in prison even though she was driving without a license [“Driver pleads guilty to DUI, hitting girl, left brain-injured,” Local, Sept. 15]. More than 100,000 deaths have occurred in the U.S. since Sept. 11, yet we don’t mourn them every year.

Drinking and driving and killing aren’t just “bad choices,” but murder and people who commit these murders should be given harsher sentences and have their property confiscated to pay for their acts of terrorism.

Alcohol should have an added tax that will pay for the lifetime medical costs of these terrorists and if that isn’t enough, the companies that sell the alcohol should be assessed a tax to pay for the costs. Why should the taxpayer pay the cost or the victim suffer the consequences?

Climate change redux

NEWPORT BEACH, Angie Vazirian: What is the Register’s source for disputing the overwhelming evidence of climate change [“Alarmism, not climate, grows more extreme,” Editorial, Sept. 12]? Is it the fossil fuel-funded Heartland Institute, which is just one of the 100-plus, public relations firms funded, in part, by Exxon? I’m sure it is Willie Soon, the septic skeptic cited by the Register who says temperature swings are just solar variations. He has received more than $1 million from the fossil fuel industry in the last decade.

The process by which science is worked out, “peer review,” is not perfect, but it is reliable. What gives science integrity is that it has to hold up to scrutiny from fellow experts before it is ever published. You have cherry picked information written by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to create doubt but ignored all its hard work that says exactly the opposite of what your editorial says.

Despite this editorial, I remain optimistic that the tide has turned. The public will soon reject in mass such a gross misrepresentation of science.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Tom Hartley: Regarding “A global-warming duel blows into town” [Sept. 17]: First, it is a myth that 98 percent agree. It is not possible to get 98 percent to agree what color my socks are. Second, he said, “in 1981, Dr. James Hansen published a paper.” Oh, please, Winnie the Pooh could have predicted temperatures would rise. We had just been terrified by “global cooling” in mid-1975. Third, where is this Northwest Passage you mention? Is this the same ice-free passage that existed in the 1930s?

I predict that temperatures will fall and by 2025 we will be entering a mini Ice Age. Now where’s my grant to study this, show a tendency and get a new grant to further the idiocy.

Global warming is a good thing. CO2 is a good thing. Its level is way too low. Unfortunately, if we burn all of the fossil fuels known to exist, we cannot raise the CO2 but a tiny, tiny bit. There is simply too much atmosphere and too much ocean absorbing the stuff.

An explosive Arab Spring

MISSION VIEJO, Pat Paternoster: It is a shame that radical liberals cannot handle the truth, which includes the entire Executive Branch of the federal government. Enough is enough. They gave us everything but the truth about the torture of our ambassador and planned terrorist attack.

Maybe it is time for an “Arab Spring” that seeks to kill all Americans to end and time the American dream of “peace on Earth” takes over. I bet a couple of “nukes” might give these terrorists something to think about besides attacking our embassies and causing destruction, riots and hurting innocent lives. Instead of using the money we give them to become a better country, terrorists thank us by burning our flags. It has a lousy stink. Now it’s our turn to reciprocate and get our money’s worth.

Food-stamp nation

COSTA MESA, Jim Huber: There are now almost 47 million Americans on food stamps. This is up from 31 million just four years ago. How many of these people have cell phones, cable TV, other “luxuries”? I witnessed a woman buying more than $50 in lobster tails while talking on her cell phone with her food stamp card. This is not right.

The food-stamp program should only be for people who really need food and should be limited to the purchase of produce, dairy, meats for less than $5 per pound, canned foods, rice, pasta and bread. No deli, bakery, soda, chips or bottled water (drink from the tap). I don’t mind helping the truly needy, whoever they are. Subsidizing non-essential items is wrong.

The best things in life

MISSION VIEJO, Steve Hufstedler: I finally figured out the difference between the left wing and the right wing. The Left wing says, “If your life gets better, my life gets better” and the Right says, “If my life gets better, your life gets better.”

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